Woman survives assault with sledgehammer in Gastonia, police say

GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gastonia man is in custody for assaulting his girlfriend with a mini-sledgehammer, Gastonia Police Department confirmed Thursday morning.

GPD has charged 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary of Gastonia for the assault of his 21-year-old girlfriend. Officials also said that Singletary kept his girlfriend inside his apartment for over two hours following the attack.

The department sent out a news release that said, on Dec. 2 around 9:30 a.m., responding GPD officers met the victim in the local hospital after she had called 911 to report the assault.

The victim told responding officers that she was at Singletary’s apartment a few hours earlier when he struck her in the back of the head with the hammer. After being hit, the victim said she felt dizzy, disoriented and could feel heavy bleeding from the back of her head.

According to police, Singletary didn’t allow the victim to leave the apartment until she had cleaned up all evidence from the attack. The victim said she complied with Singletary’s demands and left the apartment a couple of hours later.

After leaving Singletary’s apartment, the victim drove herself to the hospital and called the authorities.

GPD officers got a warrant for Singletary’s arrest, charging him with assault with intent to inflict serious injury, kidnapping and communicating threats.

Singletary was arrested at his apartment in the later afternoon. Officers were able to find evidence from the attack including the mini-sledgehammer.

Singletary is currently being held on a $250,000 secured bond.

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